News

Asbestos, America’s Legal Killer: 10,000 Americans Die Each Year

10,000 Americans die each year from preventable diseases caused by asbestos.

Let’s talk that out.

10,000 Americans means 187 school buses. It also means our very own US Congress (which has 535 voting members from both the House of Representatives and Senate) times 2.

At this time our congress has not stepped up to the plate. They’ve considered altering the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) that has not been revised since the 70’s. Thankfully they didn’t — because their alterations would have actually been pro-toxic substances (— sadly, lots of businesses with powerful lobbyists in DC would like to maintain their access to toxic chemicals and substances). And that’s saying nothing of the asbestos lobbyists themselves who work tirelessly on the wrong side of right and wrong, fighting to make sure that asbestos can still be imported and used in industrial, commercial and automotive goods.

10,000 Americans means our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. It means our best friends and the people next door. It means our teachers, volunteers and us good ole’ taxpayers who do what they can and expect our representatives in Congress to do their part too.

Because of the way asbestos works, and kills, those 10,000 Americans who die each year from preventable diseases caused by asbestos are by no means a random selection.

More often than not, those 10,000 Americans are the workers who handed asbestos day-in and day-out or the workers who otherwise came into contact with asbestos when it was disturbed and thus in prime condition to be inhaled.

The people we trust to build our homes, factory workers doing what they can to make things work on minimum wage, automobile mechanics trying to kickstart our country’s car industry back into top gear. The people who worked in ship building, in power plants and construction.

And don’t forget the US Navy, the firefighters and the volunteers — all people who have historically come into more contact with asbestos and who have been killed because of it.